Buyers could take the reins in B.C.’s hot housing market: CMHC

B.C.’s hot real estate market is expected to continue to slow over the next two years, according to new figures from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

House prices in the province, especially in Metro Vancouver, are set to level out in line with salaries, jobs and population growth, the Crown corporation said Tuesday.

New construction is also expected to slow down to match lower demand, with condo starts barely hitting 25,000 a year in B.C., down from 31,318 new condo starts last year.

“Shifting market conditions across B.C.’s large urban centres is resulting in movement back towards balanced or even buyers’ market conditions in some cases, which is beginning to flatten price growth or, in some areas, result in price declines,” the corporation’s report noted.

Adil Dinani, a Coquitlam-based realtor with Royal LePage, said the slow shift towards a buyers’ market was a mix of government policy and natural market cycles.

“If you look at the past decade since 2009, when we came out of the heights of the recession, we’ve been the beneficiaries of a very strong real estate market,” said Dinani.

“We’re at a point where adjustment and moderation like we’re experiencing now is normal and natural.”